Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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From the Bush campaign:

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf today issued the following statement:

"The Democratic National Committee is making fraudulent phone calls claiming that I have endorsed Senator Kerry. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I demand that they stop immediately.

"Senator Kerry opposed the Reagan defense build-up that won the Cold War. Senator Kerry opposed the removal of Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. Senator Kerry proposed billions in intelligence cuts after the first attack on the World Trade Center. Senator Kerry voted against funds to equip our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with supplies like body armor and ammunition.

"I am supporting President Bush for reelection, because he is the candidate who has demonstrated the conviction needed to defeat terrorism. In contrast to the President's steadfast determination to defeat our enemies, Senator Kerry has a record of weakness that gives me no confidence in his ability to fight and win the War on Terror. His attempt to make up for these deficiencies by falsifying my endorsement only confirms my impression that he is not the man we need to lead our nation."

I realize I'm appealing to the standards of a bygone era, but could we someday, please, have a race without this stuff [not the word I wanted to use] going on? Allegedly there are calls going around saying Kerry would make gay marriage legal. I know his denial is almost certainly just a political dodge, but the other side shouldn't pretend that denial doesn't exist.

Could we have one race, in which each side was honest about what policies it wanted, about who has endorsed who, and about what its core values are?

Of course low-rent political operatives love this stuff, love leaving messages with voters telling them the wrong voting location, or push polling, or other cheap stunts to depress the other guy's turnout. But this is why people hate politics. And when it gets traced back to a specific source - like Norman has apparently done with the DNC - the perpetrators ought to pay a price for it.

[Posted 11/01 05:39 PM]